eBook Conversions Made Easy!

Bowker eBook Conversion Services

Publishers predict eBooks will account for 50% of all books sales in 2014

Bowker has teamed up with DCLabs to develop and converts books to eBook files for the Amazon Kindle, Apple iPad and iPhone, Nook, Droid, Sony eReader, and nearly all other smart phones mobile devices. Our experience offers you the flexibility to deliver your book in more ways than ever before.

Expand Your Audience With eBooks

eBooks are becoming a popular method of distributing books to new readers. By mid-2014 half of all books being sold will be eBooks. Converting your documents into quality eBooks can be complicated. Bowker has teamed up with Data Conversion Laboratory to help you navigate through the process of creating a professional quality eBooks that can be read by all devices.

What you get
When you use the Bowker eBook Conversion Services, you receive files formatted in either MOBI, EPUB or both. MOBI files are formatted to be used on Kindle eReaders. EPUB files are formatted to be used on Apple iBooks, BN Nook, and is being promoted by the publishing industry to be the standard format for eBooks. To maximize both your savings and your market reach, we recommend selecting both MOBI and EPUB.

Your MOBI and EPUB files will go through a variety of quality checks to insure the results match your expectations in formatting and quality. This insures customer satisfaction from you, to your customers.

Fees
The cost of producing an eBook is based upon the complexity and size of the project. Keep in mind that we do not simply run a script to convert your files. We put your PDF through multiple phases to insure that the files you receive have gone through rigorous quality assurance testing.

As you see below, each format is significantly less expensive when you purchase two formats. If you are thinking that you want your book on the Kindle as well as the Nook and iPad, then you will need both formats. Purchasing both eBook formats upfront will save you money.

Frequently Asked Questions About eBooks

I have my converted files, now how do I start selling them?Bowker has joined forces with Vook to provide distribution for your eBooks.
We distribute your ebooks on your behalf, help you manage your titles in each storefront you choose to distribute to. Vook handles the royalty collection, accounting, sales tracking and payment. Vook can publish your ebook through our account with you or your company listed as the seller-of-record, or we can list Vook as the seller-of-record. In either case, you retain all rights to your title and Vook pays out 90% of net royalties to you.

I have purchased a conversion on MyIdentifiers in the past, where can I find it?
Bowker will save your converted files for as long as you have an active MyIdentifiers.com account, in the event that you lose them (for example in the case of a crashed hard drive). To find them, follow these steps:

Log into MyIdentifiers.com

Mouseover My Account and select Manage Subscriptions

Click the "eBook Conversion" link.

At this point, you will be able to download any of your converted files.

What is MOBI?
Short for Mobipocket e-book format, and is used on the Amazon Kindle device.

What is EPUB?
The EPUB is a popular vendor-independent XML-based e-book format. EPUBs can be read at least by primary eReaders, such as: Kobo eReader, Apple's iBooks, Barnes and Noble Nook, and the Sony Reader.

What format do I need my document to be in?
In order to have your file converted, you need to provide your file in a readable PDF, MS Word, InDesign, or HTML document. The text must be readable, and searched as text, and not an image.

The file needs to have all protections removed, otherwise we will not be able to open the file and work with it.

If you have a Word Document, contact us at isbn-san@bowker.com and someone will be happy to convert it to a PDF for you, so that you may then upload it into the process.

Are there limitations to what you will convert at your listed prices?
At the listed prices, we are only providing you these services for projects that are of Low or Medium Complexity. At the price provided, we cannot offer this to heavy formatting, lists, tables, question/answers, math, block quotes, boxed text, and sidebars. For more details, see the descriptions to the right.

If you believe you have a complex project, contact us at: isbn-san@bowker.com. Explain which formats (EPUB, MOBI) you are looking for, a PDF of your manuscript, and we will be happy to provide you with a quote.

Can I get the discounted price if I purchase both formats separately?
Sorry, we can only offer this price upfront, as much of the savings is related to not needing to repeat work. Because we can create certain efficiencies in this process, we can do two formats of the same book at a discount. However, we cannot offer the difference at a later date.

What is an eISBN? Do I need one for my eBook?
There is no such thing as an eISBN. ISBNs are the same type of number, whether your book is a printed or an eBook.

Your eBooks may require ISBNs. The industry standard is that if your book differs enough to change the end user's experience, the ISBNs in the supply chain need to be unique. For example, you would need an ISBN for an EPUB, and a different ISBN for a MOBI, and a different ISBN for a softback book, and a different ISBN for a hardback book.

If you have a new edition, then you would need ISBNs for those as well.

Why can't I just use free EPUB conversion software to convert my files?
You can — but we have found that when authors try to use one of the free EPUB conversion software packages available on the internet, and submit them, they almost always fail the retailers' EPUB quality control tests. It often ends up costing more time and money than you expect.

Will my eBook look exactly like the book I upload?
For the maximum extensibility and compatibility of an ebook it needs to use re-flowable text and that there is no set "page." Users of an eReader can customize their reading experience by changing fonts, font size, margins, and justification based on their reading preferences and on the screen size of the device. Because of this, we want to convert your eBook so that it looks good on all devices, and in color vs. black/white.

Different readers support different formatting, so your book will look different on the different reader devices, and even when using two different reading applications on the same device.

How can I make changes to my eBook?
You can make unlimited changes prior to the conversion. You can edit anything contained in the book as long as it is documented clearly on what changes you are requesting for the eBook.

After conversion, you can still make changes but you may incur change fees.

Can Bowker convert books in non-English languages?
Yes. Some languages like Spanish and French do not incur additional charges, but other languages like Chinese do.

Please note: We do not translate any of your text for you. If you'd like to distribute an eBook in two or more languages you will have to send them separately as two separate conversions.

The Type Of Ebooks We Convert

Low Complexity Formatting:

Formatting
Simple books are plain text without any images or tables. Text should be standard Latin-based language, where text is formatted to read from the top left corner of the page.

Formatting will be limited to standard
text and chapter headings.

Dimensions:
6" x 9" or 15.24cm x 22.86cm

Examples:

Novels

Memoirs

Other books without graphic images

Medium Complexity Formatting:

Formatting
Medium books contain images and tables on no more than 30% of the total page count.Dimensions:
8.5" x 11" or 21.59cm x 27.94cm

This includes:

Large Paper Size

Multiple Heading Levels

Figures

Latin Based Language(reads left to right)

Examples:

Chapter books with someillustrations

Basic Cookbooks

Marketing Books

Our listed prices do not include High Complexity conversion projects. If you believe you have a complex project, contact us at: isbn-san@bowker.com. Explain which formats (EPUB, MOBI) you are looking for, attach a PDF of your manuscript, and we will be happy to provide you with a quote.